Virtual Enemy! Behold: Red Nova Dragon!
by EHeroFlareNeos
Summary: A Duel between Jack Atlas and Seto Kaiba. One-Shot!


**Virtual Enemy! Behold: Red Nova Dragon!**

Within the walls of KaibaLand, Jack Atlas had challenged Seto Kaiba to a duel. However, he wasn't really dueling the actual Kaiba, so much as a simulation of him with the same Deck, tactics, and mannerisms. But Jack didn't care, so long as he could try to strong enough to beat Yusei. With this in mind, he fired up the simulation and stared straight at the virtual Kaiba.

"Greetings, duelist" the faux-Kaiba said. "It seems you have decided to challenge me to a duel."

Jack kept calm, knowing he couldn't turn back at this point. "Of course I have, otherwise we wouldn't be talking."

"Good point. But are you another duelist who wants bragging rights, or are you looking to prove your worth as a duelist?"

"I'm not here for your entertainment, computer." Jack was unsure if what he responded to was pre-programmed or something specific towards him. Either way, he knew what he came here for. "I'm here for a real challenge, so I figured you might be able to give me one."

Kaiba shrugged. "I see why you're here then. Let me guess, there's a person you want to beat, so you decided to bite off more than you could chew. I've dueled many like that already."

Jack was a little surprised by how specific the program's sentences could get. But he didn't want to show this, he wanted to look determined for his challenge to be accepted. "You're wrong. I'm the great Jack Atlas, and I never duel unless I'm sure I can win."

"Well in that case," faux-Kaiba replied with slight sarcasm "I guess we should just get your defeat over with." Kaiba then raised his Battle City duel disk and let it unfold.

"Not exactly the best way to accept a challenge, but I suppose it will have to do." Jack activated his Duel Disk as well.

Once both Duel Disks were completely unfolded, both duelists placed their Decks inside, allowing them to be automatically shuffled. Once this was done, they both drew the top 5 cards of their Decks and simultaneously yelled "Duel!"

**Kaiba (LP: 4000) VS Jack (LP: 4000)**

"I'll make the first move." Kaiba drew his first card and immediately had a strategy set up. "First, I summon Peten the Dark Clown in Defense Mode **(DEF 1200/LV 3)**. Then I'll end my turn by setting 2 cards." Kaiba was completely confident in this move. "Well, let's see how you respond to this."

"I can do better than that, Kaiba. My turn." With his 6-card hand, Jack started his countermove. "Now I know you decided to play defensively, but you'll soon see that was a mistake. Since you control a monster and I don't, I can play Vice Dragon straight from my hand **(ATK 2000/LV 5)** so long as I halve its ATK and DEF **(ATK 2000 ****1000)**. And just so he isn't alone, I summon Dark Resonator in Attack Mode **(ATK 1300/LV 3)**."

"Face-Down card, Reveal: Cloning! Since you summoned a monster, I can bring out a Clone Token with the exact same stats as your Dark Resonator." During this explanation, a flash of light was created from the card picture, which caused Jack's Dark Resonator to create a duplicate of itself that went over to Kaiba's field in Defense Position **(DEF 300/LV 3)**.

"A clever counter, Kaiba, but I'm afraid it won't do you much good."

"Let me guess" Kaiba replied sarcastically "You're going to play your trump card on your first turn, right?"

Jack was thrown for a moment, but kept his composure. "That's exactly what I'm going to do. I now tune my Dark Resonator with my Vice Dragon to bring forth a monster that hasn't failed me yet." Jack moved the cards to the Graveyard as Dark Resonator turned into 3 green rings, one for each level. Vice Dragon then turned into 5 white stars, one for each level, which straightened themselves inside the rings. During this process, Jack chanted. "The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!" A white light burst through the rings, revealing the form of Red Dragon Archfiend, who floated down behind Jack, ready to fight **(ATK 3000/LV 8)**.

At the sight of Jack's monster, Kaiba laughed. "You really think that bringing forth a high-powered monster on the first turn is enough to beat me? I've faced that tactic too many times to count."

This comment almost got to Jack, but he knew he couldn't show it. "Yeah? Well, my dragon's got enough power to take your defense out. If it so much as touches a defense position monster you have, it'll take the rest out with it."

Kaiba was unfazed. "Good for you."

"Now, Red Dragon Archfiend, attack his Peten the Dark Clown! Blazing Crimson Hell Flare!"

Kaiba smirked. "Nice try. Face-Down card, Reveal: Enemy Controller!" As a ball of fire gathered above Red Dragon Archfiend's fist, a video game controller appeared in front of Kaiba.

"What's this?" asked Jack.

"This card allows me to select 1 monster, such as your dragon, and perform one of two actions by entering a code." The cord of Enemy Controller plugged into the chest of Jack's monster. "The code I choose is: Left, Right, A, B."

Jack was puzzled by this, until he noticed the ball of flame disappear and his dragon switch to defense position. "What did you just do to my monster?"

"Simple, really. I just changed your monster's battle position against your will." Enemy Controller then vanished as Kaiba placed the card in his Graveyard.

Jack wasn't too happy about Kaiba's tactic, clenching his fist. However, he decided to just let it go, noticing he could turn the situation back around on the next turn. "If that's how it's going to be, I set 1 card and end my turn."

"Then I'll just have to put you out of your misery." Kaiba drew his next card, now holding 4. "Now you'll get to see the great beast that will end you. I sacrifice my Peten the Dark and my Clone Token to summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba moved his Peten the Dark Clown to the Graveyard and slapped his Blue-Eyes White Dragon onto his disk. Soon after, his new monster appeared from a pillar of light behind Kaiba.

Jack was surprised. "Woah, I've never seen a Blue-Eyes up close before. But is it really as powerful as you claim?"

"You're about to find out. Blue-Eyes, attack his Red Dragon Archfiend! Burst Stream of Destruction!" Kaiba's Blue-Eyes charged and launched a stream of lightning out of its mouth. Once the attack connected, its opponent exploded into a large smoke cloud. **(Jack LP: 4000)**

Jack clenched his fist in anger from the destruction of his monster. Once the smoke cleared, he yelled "You'll pay for what you did, Kaiba!"

Kaiba ignored this statement. "I set 1 card and end my turn."

Realizing he was ignored, Jack silently drew his next card, now holding 4. After glancing at his hand, he noticed a countermove and smirked. "This isn't over yet."

"Are you sure? Most people would give up right about now."

"Well I'm not about to any time soon. Since you control a monster but I don't, I can Special Summon Gear Changer from my hand in Attack Mode **(ATK 1500/LV 4)**."

Kaiba laughed this off. "Is this a joke? Coming at me with a monster much weaker than my Blue-Eyes?"

"We'll see who laughing after this next move. Trap Card open: Reincarnation Ring. With this card, I can release a monster, like my Gear Changer **(LV 4)**, to bring back a monster whose level is equal to double the monster I released." Gear Changer disappeared into thin air. "Now, come back, Red Dragon Archfiend **(LV 8)**!" A pillar of light rose from the ground, Revealing Red Dragon Archfiend as Jack placed the card on his Duel Disk **(ATK 3000/LV 8)**.

"So you brought it back for a repeat performance? You realize that attacking my Dragon will kill them both, don't you?"

"That's why I don't plan on attacking with my Dragon at this stage."

"What do you mean, 'not at this stage'? Can you advance it?"

"That's right, Kaiba. I'll continue my turn by Special Summoning Creation Resonator in Attack Mode **(ATK 800/LV 3)**. But that's not all, since I control Red Dragon Archfiend, I can Special Summon Red Nova in Attack Mode as well **(ATK 0/LV 1)**."

Kaiba was confused by what Jack had just played. "Two Tuners? Just what are you planning?"

"I Double Tune my Level 1 Red Nova and my Level 3 Creation Resonator with my Level 8 Red Dragon Archfiend!" Red Nova and Creation Resonator transformed into 4 rings of fire, the total of their level stars. Red Dragon Archfiend itself floated through the rings. While this occurred, Jack's Signer mark glowed as fire coated his hand.

Kaiba was genuinely surprised by this move. "What's going on? Why is your arm glowing?"

Jack spoke with confidence. "This fire is Burning Soul. It represents a new level of power." As he explained this, Red Dragon Archfiend was surrounded by the fiery rings crossing each other. Jack then held up the monster he planned on summoning.

"What is that card?"

Ignoring Kaiba's question, Jack chanted "The King and The Devil, here and now, shall become as one. A Raging Spirit! Lift up the very cries of Creation itself! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Red Nova Dragon!" As soon as Jack placed the card on his Duel Disk, Red Dragon Archfiend was engulfed in the fires of the rings around it. Once it transformed, the fire disappeared, revealing the form of Red Nova Dragon **(ATK 3500/LV 12)**.

Kaiba flinched at the sight of its ATK, but calmed to keep his composure. "Is that all?"

"Not quite Kaiba. For every Tuner in my Graveyard, it gains 500 ATK. Since I now have 3 in there (Dark Resonator, Creation Resonator, Red Nova), that's 1500 extra ATK points **(Red Nova Dragon ATK 3500 ****5000)**!"

Kaiba just stared at Red Nova Dragon, but the virtual duelist ended up staying level-headed. "So is that the only trick your monster has?"

Jack stayed focused on his turn, not quite finished with his monster. "You say that as if I'm just going to stand around. Red Nova Dragon, destroy the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Burning Soul!" On command, Red Nova Dragon sped toward its target, coating itself in pure fire.

"As if I'm going to let that happen. Face-Down card, Reveal: Negate Attack!" Due to the effect of the card, Red Nova Dragon flew into a vortex generated in front of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and reappeared behind Jack. "Looks like your build-up went to waste."

"I'll be the judge of that, Kaiba. I set 1 card and end my turn." At this point, Jack's hand did not contain any more cards. All he could do now was hope he could hold out until the next turn.

"My turn! Draw!" Kaiba's hand now contained 3 cards. "I activate Pot of Greed to get 2 more cards." Kaiba did so, now holding 4 cards. Prepare to face a beast that far surpasses anything you could hope to bring out!" As Kaiba said this, he held up 3 cards. "I activate Polymerization in order to fuse the Blue-Eyes I have out now with the two in my hand." As Kaiba gathered the 4 cards together, all 3 Blue-Eyes white Dragons appeared behind him and spun together into a vortex. "Now come forth" Kaiba slapped a card onto his Duel Disk "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" In a flash of light, the three-headed dragon appeared behind Kaiba, ready to serve his every command **(ATK 4500/LV 12)**.

Jack was in awe at the sight of this new monster. "So this is the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. It's so powerful." He then realized he was distracting himself from what he was supposed to be doing. Jack shook his head and regained his confident tone. "However, it'll take more than that to beat me."

Kaiba continued with his turn. "Next, since I only have 1 card in my hand, I activate Card of Demise. With this card, I draw cards until I hold 5." Kaiba did as the card said, now holding a new hand of 5 cards. "But as a trade-off, I lose my entire hand in 5 turns."

"Well I'll make sure you don't even have 5 turns left in this duel."

"We'll see about that. I activate Shrink. With this card, the ATK of your Red Nova Dragon is cut in half **(Red Nova Dragon ATK 5000 ****2500)**. Now, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack with Ultimate Burst." Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon charged a ball of energy in each of its 3 heads. After a moment, the attack launched itself forward with a burst of lightning **(ATK 4500)**.

As the attack headed toward Red Nova Dragon, Jack decided to reveal his monster's hidden effect. "I activate the second ability of Red Nova Dragon. If it gets attacked, I can remove it from play to negate the attack of your monster." Jack lifted his card off the Duel Disk as a barrier formed around Red Nova Dragon. The attack from Kaiba's dragon reflected in all directions around the barrier as the dragon within it disappeared.

"You're lucky, you know that? I set a monster in Defense Mode, then I place 2 cards face-down to end my turn." During the End Phase, Jack's Red Nova Dragon returned to the field in a burst of fire **(ATK 5000/LV 12)**.

Jack drew his next card in hesitation, considering that the next turn could have the outcome of the Duel. "My turn, Draw!" As Jack held his lone card, he couldn't help but be surprised that the Duel had lasted that long without either side taking any damage. "For this turn, I'll have Red Nova Dragon attack Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Burning Soul!"

"Face-Down card, Reveal: Interdimensional Matter Transporter! With this card, I remove my Blue-Eyes from play so that you can't touch it." Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon disappeared as soon as Red Nova Dragon's Burning Soul attack connected, causing a Replay to occur.

Jack Atlas was aware of the Replay. "Now Kaiba, since the number of monsters you control suddenly changed, a Replay occurs. So I'll switch my target to your face-down monster. Go, Burning Soul!" This time, Red Nova Dragon struck its target, flipping it face-up.

"The monster you just destroyed was Des-"

"Trap Card open: Burning Strike!"

"You interrupted me."

"With Burning Strike, I select my Red Nova Dragon **(ATK 5000)**. Now every time it attacks, including this one, it inflicts Piercing Damage." The monster being attacked revealed itself, only to be completely engulfed in flames and destroyed.

"As I was saying, you destroyed Des Feral Imp **(DEF 1800)**."

"So you take 3200 damage from Burning Strike."

Kaiba soon found himself in the same fire as his monster, receiving the full damage from Jack's card **(Kaiba LP: 800)**. Once the flames died down, Kaiba revealed the effect of his monster. "Since you destroyed Des Feral Imp, I get to shuffle 1 card from my Graveyard back into my Deck. The card I choose is Pot of Greed." Kaiba grabbed the card that ejected from his Graveyard and showed it to Jack. Then he placed it on top of his Deck and let it automatically shuffle. "Now, if all goes well, I'll return the damage from this turn to you in spades."

Having done damage himself this turn, Jack brushed that statement aside. "I doubt that, Kaiba. I set 1 card and end my turn." Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon returned to Kaiba's field due to the effect of Interdimensional Matter Transporter **(ATK 4500 LV 12)**

"Then it's time for the last turn of this duel **(Card of Demise: Turn 1)**." Kaiba drew his next card, not really surprised about it. He now had his scheme laid out in front of him, ready to set it in motion. "First, I activate Pot of Greed from my hand to draw 2 cards." He did as the card said. "Next I equip my monster with Megamorph. Since my Life Points are lower than yours, my Ultimate Dragon's ATK gets doubled!" **(Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon ATK 4500 ****9000)**

"That's quite impressive, Kaiba. But you already tried something like this earlier and look what happened."

"Maybe it will play out differently this time. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack Red Nova Dragon with Ultimate Burst!" Kaiba's monster charged a beam attack between all 3 of its heads and launched it forward with a burst of lightning.

Jack laughed at this attack. "You forget, I can just remove my monster from play to negate your attack." Jack did so, removing the card from his Duel Disk. Once the Ultimate Burst attack hit, it was reflected in all directions around a shield of fire. After the resulting smoke cleared, Red Nova Dragon was no longer visible. Burning Strike was also sent to Jack's Graveyard due to the selected monster not being in play.

Kaiba smirked. "That's exactly what I wanted to have happen. Face-Down card, Reveal: De-Fusion! Now I split my great beast back into its 3 components." The Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon warped slightly before the forms of Kaiba's 3 Blue-Eyes White Dragons took its place on his field. "Now, my Blue-Eyes White Dragons, attack him directly! Burst Stream of Destruction!" All 3 of Kaiba's monsters charged a ball of energy in their mouths, ready to fire.

"Trap Card open: Zero Hole! With no cards in my hand…" Jack opened his hand to illustrate this "I can now destroy every card on the field."

Kaiba said nothing. He just stared in shock as all of his cards were sucked into the vortex generated by Jack's card, including his 3 Blue-Eyes White Dragons. After the effects of the card resolved, Kaiba felt only rage. He clenched his fist and yelled "No one does that to my Blue-Eyes! You won't last next round alive you runt!"

Jack was startled by his virtual opponent getting worked up over a card. He thought perhaps there was more to Kaiba than he knew before. Still, he tried to show very little of this. "We'll see, Kaiba. After all, I don't think there's anything more you can do at the moment."

"That's not true. Now that I'm in my Main Phase 2, I activate Monster Reborn directly from my hand in order to revive my Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" A pillar of light was generated from Kaiba's card, showing the form of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Kaiba slapped the card onto his Duel as soon as it was ejected out of his Graveyard to finish the process **(ATK 3000/LV 8)**. Then I set 1 card to end my turn."

"Now my Red Nova Dragon returns to the field since it's the End Phase." On cue, a ball of fire materialized in the air and exploded outward, returning Red Nova Dragon to the field **(ATK 5000/LV 12)**.

"Do you really think you'll be able to rely on that card next turn?"

"I guess we'll find out." Jack drew his next card, ready to finish Kaiba off. However, the very next move caught him completely off guard.

"Face-Down card, Reveal: Last Turn!" Said card flipped itself face-up in front of Kaiba.

"What? You have that card?"

"Of course I do. Since my Life Points are less than 1000 **(Kaiba LP: 800)**, it means that this is truly the final turn of the Duel, the turn where I achieve victory over my opponent." Kaiba then pointed to Jack. "In this case, you're on the receiving end of this maneuver."

Jack was still shocked by how sudden the card's activation occurred. "How does the card work?"

Kaiba folded his arms on his chest, an act which managed to calm Jack down a little. "Why it's simple. First, I select my Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Then, everything we have on the field and in our hands that isn't my Blue-Eyes gets sent to the Graveyard."

"Well I've got news for you. My Red Nova Dragon can't be destroyed by card effects controlled by the opponent."

"Nice try, but I'm afraid this card doesn't destroy your Red Nova Dragon. Instead, it just sends it to the Graveyard." Jack hesitantly sent all of his cards to the Graveyard. "Now that you've done that, we've paved the way for a one-on-one battle between my dragon and any monster you choose to play from your Deck in Attack Mode." Kaiba smirked again. "But be careful which one you pick. Even though no one takes Battle Damage this round, the winner is determined by whoever's monster is left standing at the end of this match-up."

"Are you serious?"

"Choose wisely, but I doubt you have anything in your Deck to stand against my monster." Kaiba then laughed as if mocking his opponent.

Jack fanned out his Deck in front of himself, frantically searching for a monster that could match the strength of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. However, he discovered that there really was no card that could help him out. He decided in the end to go with the monster with the highest ATK. "I choose Strong Wind Dragon **(ATK 2400/LV 6)**." Strong Wind Dragon appeared at Jack's side, ready for his last stand. "Strong Wind Dragon, attack the Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Strong Hurricane!"

"Blue-Eyes, counterattack! Burst Stream of Destruction!"

After both attacks connected, Strong Wind Dragon, was obliterated, activating the effect of Last Turn. As a result, Jack lost the Duel. **(Kaiba LP: 800) (Jack LP: 0)**

**Winner: Kaiba**

As soon as the duel ended, Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon disappeared. Once the smoke cleared, Jack was still standing, glaring at his virtual enemy. The virtual Kaiba spoke first. "Although you lost, I have to admit that you had me for a moment. However, you only dropped me to 800 Life Points, which wasn't enough to beat me. I believe you're going to try to beat me again, but just remember that it's impossible."

"You're right, Kaiba, maybe I will come back. But next time, I'll be much stronger, maybe even strong enough to beat you."

"You humor me. You'll need to back that up. Are you prepared to make a bold statement like that and come back without being able to fulfill it?"

"Yes I am."

Kaiba shrugged. "You'll need to leave now. There are plenty of other people waiting for me to defeat them."

After these words, the door behind Jack opened up to the rest of KaibaLand. He took one last glance as he walked out, watching the program of Kaiba reset to welcome a new challenger. Once he was outside KaibaLand, Jack got on his D-Wheel and drove off, vowing to return later to defeat Kaiba once he had finally become stronger than Yusei.

* * *

Compared to my other attempts at a Duel Fic, I decided to put more emphasis on dialogue than I did before. This way, it wouldn't seme like a gut reaction to certain maneuvers. At the same time, it also took me longer to write this. I wrote this over a span of 3 days during any time I had a break. Hopefully, I did better here in that regard, as it also allowed me plenty of time to think about and tweak a few of the turns, especially the last one. That particular exhange was the hardest to tweak to be realistic to their decks, but also somewhat dramatic (at least as dramatic as you can get with a children's card game).

As for both of their decks, I used an amalgam of 2 or 3 of Kaiba's Decks and all of Jack's Decks. If there is anything that's "banned" please do not tell me, as this is a fanfic that requires the use of any card the characters have had access to. Thus, some of these moves would not have been possible without those cards. Also, the reason I used whole numbers most of the time instead of writing out the numbers was so it would be easier for me to keep track of the values of things. If there is any sort of mathematical error in this regard, it would be greatly appreciated if you could point those out.

Lastly, please tell me if I went OC with either duelist and how. I tried really hard to use dialogue they might say, but I think if the virtual Kaiba was slightly OC, it might have been slightly justified due to it being a program. It wouldn't hurt to point it out though, since I don't like hiding behind excuses in writing.

I hope you enjoyed this fic and I await your reviews.

- EHeroFlareNeos


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